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--- THE RIO GRANDE WATER CONSERVATION DISTRICT THE COLORADO WATER CONSERVATION BOARD GENERAL DESCRIPTION The San Luis Valley is a broad basin 115 miles long and 50 miles in maximum width. The San Juan Mountains form the western border and the Sangre de Cristo Range the eastern. The intersection of these mountain ranges at Poncha Pass is the northern extent and the southern end is a low divide 15 miles south of the Colorado-New Mexico border. The valley is filled with sediments and volcanic debris that have accumulated during the last 40 million years. Within these sediments are several aquifers which contain water. The lower aquifer is confined by day layers that lie generally at about 100 feet below the ground surface. The upper aquifer lies above these day layers and extends within several feet of the surfact. This is the unconfined aquifer that supplies water for the Closed Basin Division - San Luis Valley Project. The Closed Basin covers 2,940 square miles and is a physiographic subdivision of the valley that is not drained by the Rio Grande. The Basin is a natural depression that collects all water from both the surface and subsurface, and it acts as a sump for the upper valley. Most of the water collected in the Basin evaporates and is lost for any beneficial use. The Rio Grande Water Conservation District, estab- lished in 1967 by the Colorado General Assembly, is a local organization responsible for the construction of reservoirs, ditches, and other works for beneficial use. The district is incorporated in and encompasses A1amosa, Conejos. Rio Grande Counties, and those portions of Saguache and Mineral Counties within the Rio Grande drainage basin, including the Closed Basin. A Board of Directors consisting of nine (9) members, appointed to office for three-year terms, manages and controls the district's affairs. The powers vested in the district include legal, ownership, taxation, borrowing of money, issuing of bonds, contracting, eminent domain, and others necessaIY to carIY out the intent of the act. The Colorado Water Conservation Board was created by the Colorado General Assembly in 1937. The board was formed as a water policy and planning agency to foster and develop the water resources of Colorado. PURPOSE OF THE PROJECT The primaIYPurpose of the project is to deliver pumped ground water from the Closed Basin to the Rio Grande to assist the State of Colorado in meeting its commitments to the States of New Mexico and Texas ~ under the Rio Grande Compact and to Mexico under c_, the Rio Grande Convention of 1906. The project will C -. also provide for deliveries of water to the A1amosa ", National Wildlife Refuge and Blanca Wildlife Habitat to Area; for stabilization of San Luis Lake at about 890 (;1 surface acres; for recreational facilities at San Luis Lake; for fish and wildlife enhancement; and for the sale of water for irrigation and other beneficial uses in Colorado. PROJECT FEATURES The San Luis Valley Project is a multiple-purpose water resource project. The features were designed for stage development over an 8-year period. Designs for each stage of the project are refined on the basis of data The board consists of nine (9) members appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the Colorado Senate. Each member represents one of the eight (8) major river basins in the state and the city and county of Denver. In addition there are four (4) ex-officio members: the Executive Director of the Colorado Department of Natural Resources, the Colorado State Engineer, the Attorney General, and the Director of the Colorado Water Conservation Board. The Director of the Colorado Water Conservation Board is the only voting ex-officio member of the board. The board receives an annual general fund appropriation from the Colorado General Assembly of about 1 million dollars_ In addition, the board receives funding to construct water related projects. This funding varies depending upon how many projects are approved by the General Assembly. ~